Login HereOver the next several weeks, we're going to learn a lot more about the anthrax case and Bruce E. Ivins, the man the US government believed was the anthrax terrorist. But what we do know so far includes the following:
- the targets of the anthrax attacks were progressive Democratic Senators and the media
- for 18 years, Ivins was a US Army microbiologist working on biodefense
- Ivins was a practicing Catholic
To be sure, Ivins' profession and his religion aren't evidence, by themselves, that he was some Bircher. But taken together they don't exactly paint the picture of some dirty hippie either. And now that it's pretty clear that Saddam Hussein or some a-rab wasn't the culprit -- despite what John McSame was saying at the time, the fact that Democrats and the media were targeted should at least raise questions about a possible political motive.
Ivins, who was described by an acquaintance as "a pretty religious guy," wrote a series of rather strange letters to his local newspaper over the years, including this gloating note about the outcome of the 2004 election: (h/t Glenn Greenwald)
I read Deborah Carter's column of Nov. 7, "Election blues," and I have three comments for the good woman, and for everybody else, as well.
First, it's clear that views like hers would put Jesus on that cross again. Second, thy loom and churn best be still, come the Sabbath. Third, you can get on board or get left behind, because that Christian Nation Express is pulling out of the station!
Let's not jump to conclusions. Ivins' attorney is maintaining his innocence, and we don't have all the facts yet. But it's hard not to wonder, given what we do know so far, if Ivins wasn't yet another Eric Rudolph, Jim Adkisson or Timothy McVeigh.
Share This 
Spotlight
Support this site!
Keep
up with news
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search
RSS/XML Feed
Oh yeah, I also remembered that Judith Miller was the recipient of a fake anthrax letter during this period.
-G
Sounds like a loose wire job.
from the “apey” article, this seems odd:
how does someone with a long history of homicidal threats remain employed in such a position?
There must be some kind of mistake, all terrorists are scary brown people.
y’all are just jealous because he heard the voices…
I’m confused. Does that mean Ivins received threats or (likely) made the threats? seems ambiguous.
and yeah, pretty weird to still be able to hold that kind of job with that going on.
Greetings all. I have long suspected at least some insider involvement. We may never know if the idea and implentation of the attacks originated within the halls of power but it is my belief that those attacks were used by insiders for the political gains that increased public anxiety would make possible.
true, it’s not clear if he was dishing them out or on the receiving end.
But what we do know so far includes the following…
What we do know also includes the fact that gov’t officials LIED to ABC news in the wake of the attacks, trying to misdirect them with a false story that the anthrax contained bentonite and therefore could only have come from Saddam. In fact the stuff came from inside the US bioweapons infrastructure. Did they know that as well? They or whoever made up the bentonite fiction certainly knew it was a crock. And what we know also it includes the fact that gov’t officials–the same ones?–tipped off Richard Cohen before the attacks took place. Finally, what we also know, then, is that two major news organizations have knowledge of sources inside the US government who a) knew about the attacks ahead of time, and/or b) knew they didn’t come from Saddam but were willing to lie about it.
Or vegan potluckers.
How does someone with a long history of homicidal threats, and access to anthrax, remain free for seven years after the anthrax murders? Did ANYONE actually investigate this case, or did they wait till Ivins posted “I KILLED PEOPLE WITH ANTHRAX” on his blog?? Jeebus cripes…
Wow, alarming.
Every time someone says “But we haven’t had any terrorist attacks since 9/11″
remind them of the anthrax attacks. Took the FBI too damn long to figure this out.
All along it seemed to this liberal that the perp was a rabid wingnut. Good synthesis.
I found it very suspicious at the time that the targets were progressive Democrats and the media, and the political beneficiaries were the GOP.
There is no right wing terrorism in America, there are only lone individuals acting out of homicidal rage. Ask Michele Malkin.
If this from CNN is correct, he was dishing them out.
.
Seeing how government operates at that level, I am certain someone (WH) asked, is there any way we can pin this on Saddam and someone said, well, there might be bentonite. and from there, bentonite it was because, while there was no evidence that anthax contained it, there was no evidence that it did not, playing right into 1% Cheney’s hands(fears).
The letters to the editor shown above don’t appear to be consistently right wing.
You have a gift for understatement.
*g*
If one is a microbiologist, then one must be pretty damn brilliant.
Doesn’t mean you can’t be pretty batfuckingshit crazy, too.
Wonder if he had the same books on his shelf as Adkinson?
imo, because of the level of disinformation we have received over the years from the gov and media on this case, i think it is prudent to wait for more information before accepting this report (of ivins’ guilt, reason for suicide or even claims of homicidal threats).
if one is inclined to give anonymous sources’ stories consideration, then this one (from glenn’s comments) should at least be read in addition to the “official” reports.
Still wondering about the abrupt and unexplained deaths of several microbiologists just after the attacks.
and here is glenn weighing in on the comment (link above):
Not sure if this has been mentioned yet here, but more unbelievable stuff from the House:
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/....._0801.html
Sounds chaotic in there. Second time Repubes have much up the House operations even in the minority, and we’re constantly being told by the Dem “leadership” that they’re hands are tied on getting anything meaningful passed. What a crock!
Of course we also have Roy Blunt being a whiny little child, as usual, and repeating the childish “Democrat Party” over and over again on the House floor:
C’mon Roy. What happened to “United We Stand” and all the flag waving stuff you do. The Founding Fathers were Liberals. Why do Republicans hate America?
22 goopers taking part in the big protest- most went home when they discovered that the Cspan cameras are off…
Boner is agreein to make a fool of himself however.
Good point. I’d lose my freaking teaching job if I were making homicidal threats.
Oil companies must be threatening them. No more campaign funds unless you get er done.
Yes, the Bush Administration lies so much that it can’t be believed on anything. I have to wonder why the FBI focused for nearly 7 years on Hatfill if they had a person such as Ivins is being described right there too. It’s not like he just appeared on the scene. Just how sloppy is the FBI? (rhetorical question alert)
Latest Gallup showing Obama tied- Rasmussen shows Obama up by one.
Don’t know if tomfoolery is what they had in mind.
my very first response to this morning’s news was I’m gonna wait until Emptywheel, eriposte, or some other reliable source does the reporting.
wildly coincidental they didn’t even look at this guy until Hatfill was off the hook - spare me the stories about ‘reorganizing the investigation’.
and as our psy ops friends would tell us - first thing you do is identify someone with both proximity and vulnerabilities
for all we know they might have hounded this poor unfortunate soul to his death
I should add that given how pathetic this anthrax investigation has been is anyone surprised that Bush and company have still not found Osama bin Laden?
You’re not protected by civil service. He was. It’s difficult to fire someone with that protection and it CAN’T be done quickly.
Boxturtle (Someday, I’ll tell the story of the fellow who didn’t work for two years and retired with full benefits, despite the efforts of a Bird Colonel)
And be sure to see Glenn.
Who would have reason to employ someone killing their enemies?
Or, as was stated earlier, why would a microbiologist use tylenol to comit suicide?
hugh and cbl2 - exactly. i’m not suggesting an alternative explanation…. only that there are too many unanswered questions. no way am i going to accept this story at face value without more info.
Ever notice how republicans always benefits from these unconventional suicides.
The DC madam hangs herself at her mother’s house? Women don’t usually go the rope route.
Mr Anthrax, The guy who probably still remembers who he gave the anthrax to , goes the pill route? Usually a rope or a gun or why didn’tt he just OD on Anthrax?
whatever he did apparently worked
Any word on what was on this fellow’s bookshelf?
There wouldn’t happen to have been some Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Michael Savage reading materials, would there?
Something else to wonder about is what happened to those FBI agents (and Justice Department people too) who ran the anthrax investigation. This is something we virtually never hear about when there is a mammoth screw up like this. Were they promoted? What positions do they now hold or did they retire with honor and a gold watch and fill their days regaling their friends with vague allusions to how they defended the country?
So when does Obama start attacking McBush as being- well- McBush?
Addendum: If what we have seen of Ivan’s writtings are an accurate representation of the mindset of this man then he is not a likely candidate for suicide. Quite the contrary. He would consider suicide as not an option. Especially in the face of capture. That would have been his opportunity to have a larger stage with which to help us understand how wrong we have been and to see what a true hero and patriot he is.
Curious
Corrected it for you.
Boxturtle (Objection! Assumes information not in evidence)
Professor Plum in the kitchen with the ice pick?
Are you sure he did it?
You mean committed suicide? Don’t know. Looks like it from reports.
if it was a suicide, i don’t think the choice to OD on pain killers over the pain and suffering of a rope or disease is strange (don’t know about the gun route though).
From earlier reports it looked like Iraq did it.
this is a big flag for me…I am not even sure how many tylenl you ed to commit suicide but massive may not even cover it…..just too easy for the govt……
Something just a little fishey ya think?? Like out right lies maybe??
I would think a PhD chemist would know precisely how many to take.
I heard it was tylenol with codeine. It would be the codeine taken in sufficient quantities that would depress the breathing reflex and do one in. Tylenol would take longer (hours-days), would require a massive dose, and would kill you by destroying liver function.
Again this raises a point. If the government was going to charge this guy why wasn’t he under surveillance? If he knew he was going to be charged, why hadn’t the government already placed him in custody? I mean they haven’t been exactly shy about detaining people anytime the last 7 1/2 years. Also suicides usually leave notes. Was there one and what did it say? “Comrades, don’t shoot”, for example?
now that the hatfill case has been settled and if the fbi really things the case solved and closed - then there should be no reason for all the details of the investigation to be made public. ought to be a good story. and one i’d like to know.
Given the tone of the religious parts of his writings, and the “practicing Catholic” note from BT, I wonder about suicide also. It’s not that practicing Catholics *don’t* commit suicide, but the Catholic teaching against suicide is pretty strong. The more firmly a person holds to the teachings of the Catholic church, the less likely that person would be to commit suicide.
Of course, that’s if the person were rational. Some would say that anyone who commits suicide like this is — by definition — not rational.
Still, it gives me reason to want to know more before accepting a simple verdict of suicide.
FWIW, Kevin Drum:
according the AP report ivins’ phd was in microbiology - not chemistry. although, again according to the AP, his father was a pharmacist.
A lot of people in the far left have had Ivins on the list of possibilities for the past seven years. But he was further down most people’s list than Dr. Philip Zack, who remains my prime suspect.
Thanks. I edited my comment after I typed it, but the fix didn’t take.
I would still assume with that background he would know how to do it.
OT
I got quoted in The Economist’s article on Netroots Nation.
http://www.economist.com/world.....d=11792644
Last sentence in second to last paragraph.
hah! the a-rab connection, unmasked!
The simplest explanation of the attacks is that Bruce Ivins, as part of some religious fanticism as evidenced by his letters to the editor, took it upon himself to send the Anthrax with letters attributing it to muslims, and when asked about it in his professional capacity, planted the story of bentonite.
This is not to deny that the story played right into the Bush administration’s hands and was hyped for all it was worth. It was.
But in this case it seems possible that the actual attacks and the bentonite story originated with one sole, crazy person.
How is it possible, after compiling that giant list of crimes listed in Hugh’s List (that is you, Hugh, right?), to still believe in ‘incompetency theory’? No disrespect intended, sir, I’m just curious.
Or, another possible explanation.
This guy’s an expert in bioterror. He buys into the whole BushCo idea of the War on Terror(TM) thing. He’s angry that Democrats and the media aren’t taking it more seriously. So he teaches them a lesson.
They pronounce it Lebanun, not to be confused with that other place that is spelled the same way. :)
hmmmm . . .
Curveball and Ivins, both had proximity and vulnerabilities
In his capacity couldn’t he have known about Iraqs formulations and actually used bentonite?
Well of course they’d quote a blogger whose handle is “eCAHNomics” — but did you get them to consider changing the spelling of the name of their publication to “The eCAHNomist”?
But at the time of the anthrax attacks everybody was all terrified and taking it seriously…strange timing…but unstable people do strange things.
It is not always easy to unravel incompetency, criminality, and corruption in this Administration because so often some or all of these are involved in what it does.
with all due respect - of course you didn’t mean it that way - taken one way there’s an unsettling potential grassy-knoll reading to your phrase.
Begin connecting the dots. Was Ivins another foot soldier in the fascist right wing goaded on by the hate propaganda of the Hannitys and Limbaughs and Savage et al in their ongoing war against liberals and the media? Make no mistake, the right wing will use and capitalize on the actions of the mentally unstable in furthering their agenda.
Yeah. I’m saying HE thought they weren’t taking it seriously.
Congrats! But why is it that British analysts of the American political scene never seem to understand it? It is the same propaganda of our own media. It’s more like looking at baseball as if it had the same rules as cricket.
I think the word we’re looking for is “patsy”.
All Spin Zone has some interesting points.
For example, never mind that when men commit suicide they’re more likely to use a gun, jump, or hang themselves, WHO THE FUCK TRIES TO COMMIT SUICIDE WITH TYLENOL-3s?
Or the grand jury notifying Ivins in advance that he was going to be indicted: IANAL, so someone should tell me whether that’s standard procedure or not.
The whole thing stinks to high heaven, like the palfrey suicide, the ken lay heart attack and the david kelly suicide.
And they certainly aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, some would say they are the top three prerequisites for employment in BushCo.
Consider the evidence: Chertoff, Brown, Yoo, Libby, Rumsfeld, Hayden, . . .
Oops! That should read: It is not the same propaganda of our own media. It’s more like looking at baseball as if it had the same rules as cricket.
Interesting. There is no longer a wikipedia entry for Bruce E. Ivins. IIRC, there used to be one….
Heard someone, a Democratic precinct captain in Colorado, on the Dianne Rheam show say that Obama’s negatives had gone up dramatically in the last week. Who said negative campaigning doesn’t work? It’s the mother’s milk of American politics. Obama and the Democratic Party have been ineffectual in countering the right wing hate machine.
From the U.S. Attorney’s Manual:
9-11.151 Advice of “Rights” of Grand Jury Witnesses
It is the policy of the Department of Justice to advise a grand jury witness of his or her rights if such witness is a “target” or “subject” of a grand jury investigation. See the Criminal Resource Manual at 160 for a sample target letter.
there was one 5 minutes ago. and of course I have no screen shot
ET,
nope, still there
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_E._Ivins
excellent!
Oh - No wonder!
Here’s the search I made. Duh……
new post from jane: From Anthrax To War: How About Let’s Not “Forgive and Forget”
Well, this just gets curiouser and curiouser. The Smoking Gun has a copy of a restraining order against Ivins by his therapist claiming that Ivins was “homicidal, sociopathic”:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/a.....hrax1.html
I just can’t help but think what a tortured soul this man must have been and how difficult all this must be for his family. My condolences to them.
Mr. LS pulled it up at 2AM last night and it already had his obituary on it.
Was Ivins called as a witness before a Grand Jury? Why wasn’t he just arrested? Remember the goofs who supposedly wanted to bomb the Sears Tower. They weren’t hauled before a Grand Jury. In a terrorism case, the idea of informing someone that they are a “target” is bizarre.
I just read those Ivin’s LTTE’s you linked to. I dunno, I don’t see a stark raving RW lunatic sharing his warped ideas. It’s obvious that he has a religious bent, but I think it’s more in line with a typical Catholic perspective where there’s a lot of social justice mixed in with the conservative positions on abortion, euthanasia, etc. I don’t think these letters are convincing that this guy was unhinged, willing to take innocent lives for some temporary political gain….in fact, I’m less convinced having read them all.
Did you note how they (fbi) were at a dead end until they made a change at the top? The former person in charge just “knew” who the crook was and would not hear of anyone else being suspect.When he was replaced-which took way to damn long IMO-it took only a short while to go over all the evidence again and figure out that the real crook was not the man the idiot in charge had decided it was-the govt paid out $5.8M to fix this “error”. The fbi has become a sieve. The MSM is told who they suspect and then when everything is printed-which in a great many cases, proves to be wrong-they only look like the Fumbling Bunch of Idiots that they are
They are not at all. They are indicative of a conservative/religious mindset, though, which is the point.
Yes, I agree, there are obvious clues that Ivins is pro-life, anti-euthanasia. But I also see some of that old Catholic social justice/liberation theology in his LTTE’s as well. If he is as devout a Catholic as he seems to insinuate in these writings, committing suicide would be as improbable as killing innocent Americans to score political points. I just don’t find these writings supportive of a man who would unleash anthrax on the public. Perhaps there will be other evidence that unmasks his true personality…I just find these LTTE’s make the case less convincing.
Here’s a article at the Los Vegas Sun (actually an AP article, I should note) that adds more background to Ivins, I’m finding it even harder to believe he’s the perp-
http://www.lasvegassun.com/new.....dark-side/
Bruce E. Ivins was a juggler, a gardener, a church musician, a Red Cross volunteer _ and a suspected multiple murderer, according to federal authorities.
Some people who knew him scoffed at the government’s assertion that Ivins sent the anthrax letters that killed five people and sickened 17 in the fall of 2001. But court documents indicate the outwardly mild-mannered Ivins had a menacing side.
[]
Dr. W. Russell Byrne, a colleague who worked in the bacteriology division of the Fort Detrick research facility, said Ivins was “hounded” by FBI agents who raided his home twice, and he was hospitalized for depression earlier this month.
According to Byrne and local police, Ivins was removed from his workplace out of fears that he might harm himself or others.
“I think he was just psychologically exhausted by the whole process,” Byrne said.
[]
The Duggans maintained their faith in Ivins even though FBI agents had watched his home for a year, sitting in vehicles with tinted windows.
[]
Diane Ivins was a stay-at-home mom who ran a daycare center out of the family’s home, and the Ivinses were heavily involved in their children’s activities, Bonnie Duggan said.
“They had this big red van and were always taking a bunch of kids to swim meets,” she said.
Ivins could frequently be seen walking around his neighborhood for exercise. He volunteered with the American Red Cross of Frederick County, and he played keyboard and helped clean up after Masses at St. John’s the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, where a dozen parishioners gathered Friday after morning Mass to pray for him.
Maybe it’s me, but this sounds more like a guy who’s had a nervous breakdown; brought on by being fingered for the attack, monitored openly for a year.
Also, I heard his brother’s comments on a CNN video clip…they’d been estranged for 20 years. That brother sounded like a Freeper. I could see how these 2 probably didn’t get along at all.